Cutting Ties: The Persistence of Memory Book One
by Red Ace. The Spades
Summary: As I am an amateur at death. Look underneath the underneath, what do you see? The life of Erin Watanabe Hyuuga
1. Prologue

Book one of Cutting Ties

The Persistence of Memory

Prologue

The Novice

* * *

Once upon a time- wait, that's not quite right. My story starts with death- unfortunately. I'm either an expert, or a novice at dying. I just can't die right. So novice it is.

In my past life, I was a huge anime fan. Though I guess you don't know what that is. It's an animated movie cut into short 20 minute parts and can run for a very long time. I stayed inside, watching the animated TV shows. One in particular I always defaulted back to. It was named "Naruto", after the main character. Now this might surprise you, but it's true. How else did I know your favorite food without you telling me? All those references I made that no one got? From another world, I'll be getting back to that.

This death wasn't as spectacular as I would rather it be. I didn't die heroically for a friend, or even in a difficult battle- against an illness or otherwise. Rather, I was killed at the hands of what was my friend, he went crazy. I remember the doctor said something about head trauma and thinking everyone you knew was an impostor. He saw me, and he ran a plastic knife through my stomach. I soon passed out from blood loss and later died in an hour or so.

Definitely not boring, but not fun nor heroic.

And here I am, writing to you, so that maybe one person will read my story and actually believe it.

Here I am, writing to you, Sasuke Uchiha.

As you already know about my first death, I'll go ahead and tell you about my strangely horrific birth. You may know, that nothing about me is quite that interesting, so I'll enlighten you. Look underneath the underneath, Sasuke Uchiha. What you see is an average girl. Underneath that is a scared little girl with perfect memory that remembers her parents' screams as they died. Underneath that is a traumatized girl who knows what's going to happen. And she wants to change it.

As I said earlier, my birth was strange. My mother didn't die in labor (technically)and my father didn't raise me. I was originally born in Kirigakure. The Bloody Mist. Go me, right? No, my parents didn't want me to grow up here. This village wasn't always at its best shape. Many adults and children alike were malnourished.

When they were traveling out of the Bloody Mist- on a boat mind you- my mother went through labor. Let me explain my mother to you beforehand. She was a beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair and mesmerizing blue eyes. She was kind, and a civilian. My father, was a high ranking shinobi with a rather boring appearance: dark brown hair (not unlike my mother) and even browner eyes. But somehow he was attractive. He was friends with a few missing nin, some you might recognize some you may not. For example, Zabuza Momochi, and Kisame Hoshigaki, and Anmaru Bando (a living reminder of my past name). And as I'm sure you're dying to hear my birth parents' names, Tsukiko and Roku Watanabe. My father had called a favor from Zabuza to help protect my mother during labor, he was going to need it because he was deflecting from the village and taking a pregnant civilian with him.

It was about halfway during my birth that my mother started screaming something that wasn't from pain, it was fear. We were being attacked. In an hour of battle, I was finally considered born, in my Mother's arms. Unfortunately, I kept one thing from my previous life. My eyes. They were an alarming color of green, of course the size was slightly different because of birth. My sight was a little distorted, but that's just how babies are, but I could still see my Mother's bright blue eyes, as blurry that they may be. Soon after she started holding me, she lifted her head up and promptly screamed bloody murder. A sudden silence followed and her head rolled off.

After that I remember crying harder than I was before. That exhausted me, so my not even day old body fell asleep in a dead women's arm.

You know that I don't remember anything other than waking up in the Konohagakure hospital, as if I was just born.

Now then, doesn't that explain why my eyes are different than the rest of my clan? I was adopted by civilian Hyuugas about a month or so later. They had no ability to give birth, so they adopted (surprisingly not from the clan orphanage).

They died in the attack from the Nine Tails not even five months later. Which somehow managed landed me with Neji and Hizashi. He was my adopted Father's friend, he always told me in my early years. Of course he then died for Lady Hinata, not that I blamed her of course, she was not to be blamed. After all, all of my parental figures have died. Even though I know I shouldn't blame myself, as there were tons of other contributing factors, I couldn't help it. After that I was given a letter, written by my first parents (from this life) it had pictures of them and explanations as to why I had no parents. Of course I already knew that, but it's not like I could tell them that.

Hopefully you can see, Sasuke Uchiha, that my birth is a bloody one. One can only hope you saw what you were getting into.

Signed,

Erin Watanabe Hyuuga

P.S.

Get ready for a bunch of mumbo jumbo crap about the multiverse, good luck, you'll need it.


	2. Chapter 1

Book one of Cutting Ties

The Persistence of Memory

Chapter One

In the Beginning

Now for some more detail about after my birth, I'm sure you're dying to know.

The beginning wasn't adventurous. I woke up in a hospital and was soon put in an orphanage. After maybe a month, a Hyuuga couple – civilian – adopted me. The time I spent at home was just about peaceful. I wasn't the happiest baby though. I couldn't walk, talk, read, write. I could barely see. By then, I hadn't quite gotten the message that I was in a world full of shinobi. I hadn't grasped the fact that I was born in the Narutoverse. I was a fangirl, and I needed entertainment.

If I had known sooner, then maybe… maybe I wouldn't have screwed up.

It didn't take me long to figure it out. My parents' eyes, the weird animation. The freaking _Hokage_ _mountain_. The uniforms the clansmen wore. The fact I had "clansmen". You know. The little things.

About five months after my birth – around the time I came to realization - the attack came. I was panicking, frightful. The Kyuubi emitted a lot of evil, harmful chakra. It's no wonder there weren't more like Lee. They were all probably told that they couldn't. It's a miracle that I didn't get prized with damaged coils, it was a miracle that I was only burdened with few lesser things. I became blind in one eye -the one on the right side, I got coil and chakra sensitivity. It was bad, but not the worst that could happen to me.

The sensitivity was more of a defense mechanism my body cooked up. The Kyuubi Chakra was evil, and I don't use that word lightly. My mind needed something to make sure I never felt that again, and if I did, I could get away quickly.

In the end, I just used my strengths to my benefit. Like: *insert obnoxious Barney voice* " _Oh you're_ _blind_?! _Let me just underestimate you_ ," *que obnoxious laugh*

Or with my sensitivity case, I could easier sense people around me, or far away from me. Really, it was in my favor.

As unfortunate as it is, my new parents died during the attack. They were helping Hinata's mom. And then a pillar fell on one, a burning building on the other. Great.

And once again, I'm left parentless.

I went to the clan orphanage this time. It was too late to reject my surname. If this happened two months ago, this would be a different story.

In the clan orphanage, Hizashi found me. He took me to his home, telling me that he would honor my late parents' memory. As if I was actually their kid. At his home, I met Neji, a whole year older than me. I had to handle it to Hizashi, taking care of a six-month old baby, and a one-and-a-half-year-old? That's some serious stuff right there. You really can't deny that he's a good guy, ninja or not.

Hizashi was a great dad, he cared for me and Neji without a glimpse of fear in his eyes. He handled my new found ailments with stride. Marching me right up to the hospital and wondering why my right eye didn't have a pupil, and don't move as much as the other. With courage, he helped in any way he could about my sensitive coils and chakra. Why I would cry, or itch, when anyone new came near. Or why my coils grew faster than your normal six-month old baby.

Hizashi Hyuuga was a true blessing. He did his best, and more, to take care of Neji and I. Even with no mother to help. Even with the other clan members looking at him and me strangely. As if he broke some unspoken rule about adopting a non-clan kid from the clan orphanage. Well, yahoo to him. Like I said (or meant to say), courage.

I was playing with Hinata, the the Cloud nin attacked. At that time, I wasn't allowed to train because of my age and sensitivity. So I couldn't protect myself, or Hinata. After struggling in vain, he took the both of us, kidnapped us. Who I considered father was gratefully not far away, he was able to save Hinata and I.

Of course, it wasn't that simple. The person he killed in order to save us was the Kage of the Cloud. Of course. When is it ever simple.

The Cloud people demanded for Hiashi's head on a platter. But dad would never let that happen. He loved his brother, he loved his clan, he would do anything for them.

The Cloud never got Hiashi, Hizashi died in his place. Since they were identical twins, Hizashi could pose as his older brother. My dad gave the ultimate sacrifice for Hinata, me, Hiashi, and in the end, also Neji.

Just, Neji didn't know the entire story. And he wouldn't know for a long time.

A little longer than necessary, thank you very much.


	3. Chapter 2

Cutting Ties Book One

The Persistence of Memory

Chapter Two

The One Who Never Knew

After about another month, Neji and I started living with Hiashi and Hinata. In the main branch. Which was fine. Just more of those weird stares. Hiashi sometimes looked at me like he forgot I was there. Like he would see me like I was see-through, transparent. He looked at me like he looked at a ghost.

Hinata was always cool. Shy, but cool. Hinata always took me for flower pressing with her mother, who was about to get pregnant again. Not that they knew that. Hanabi was supposed to be born in about two years. Flower pressing was always fun, and very calming.

Hinata's Mom, Himawari, was kind and gentle. Hinata looked a lot like her, either that or Mikoto, they looked a lot alike. When I first met Mikoto, I got confused and accidentally called her HimaKaa-chan. While in the market, and the most embarrassing day of my life.

Right now (or rather, in the moment I am recollecting), we were about three. Neji has already gotten the clan seal, and Hinata and I have already been kidnapped, and Hizashi has already died, leaving me in the care of his twin brother, Hiashi.

After Hinata and I got kidnapped, the both of us were put under heavy guard. It was annoying, but necessary. We'll, they say "necessary", but I say "precaution". Because that's what it really was. It wasn't necessary, it might've even been fear. But it was most definitely precaution.

When I wasn't walking around with Hinata and the guards (Neji has decided that he doesn't like me and he won't speak to me anymore, childish prune), I was hiding out in my room. Learning all that I could.

I paced a trench in floor. Wind knocked on my window, I jumped and almost screamed. "Don't do that, you startled me." I said the tree and myself. Ever since the kidn – accident, the thing, I've been a little jumpy. Hinata didn't know. Neji couldn't be bothered to know. The only person who knows is HimaKaa-chan. I felt like I could trust her with anything. Even if she was going to die in two years.

The clan compound was gloomy. A surprising amount of branch members actually kind of wanted Hinata gone. They hated the main branch. In a way, hated, was an understatement.

I pulled out a scroll that I got from the clan library. It was on obscure illnesses. Obscure might not be the right word. I mean, I was studying on mental disorders and how to help them along, and go away. As most medic ninjustu is, it requires more than perfect chakra control. Even more than for physical. One mistake, and you've just taken someone's sanity. Their common sense. Their ability to think.

It wasn't that simple, actually. There wasn't book on how to cure someone's mental illness. Not even to help them. This world hadn't quite gotten that far yet. Not even my past world did. Pills that made you feel worse or addictive. But in this universe, we had chakra. We had different resources. Different ideas. Different ways of doing things.

The scroll was just the disease and symptoms. Nothing I didn't really know already. Studystudystudy. There must be something you're missing. There wasn't. There never was.

After a little more rigorous studying on my part, I prepared myself for contact to others in my species. It seems this will involve talking to… people. I steadied my fast beating heart, closing my eyes, I brought my hand to my chest. I took deep breathes, calming my anxious mind. It didn't really work, but I pretended it did. I forced a small half smile on my face. Workworkwork.

I opened the door to the hallway and silently walked away from my room. Walkwalkwalk.

There, I found guards in the hallway, beside mine and Hinata's rooms. Pretendpretendpretend.

I knocked on my only friend's door. Knockknockknock.

"Coming, Er-chan." I heard her soft, quiet voice. Hinata exited her room with her mother. Deaddeaddead.

"Hi Hina-chan. Hi HimaKaa-chan." I greeted.

"Hello, Er-chan." Said Himawari.

"How are you doing today, Lady Hinata, Lady Himawari?" Asked me, as I teased them. Formals are more than expected of me, seeing as I wasn't born Hyuuga, and even branch members (semi-distant family) had to call them that.

They both got this funny, frustrated look on their face, they hated being called lady. Especially from me.

That calmed me a little, their reactions, I mean. Because somethings never change. Certainly not them. They couldn't. I can't – I wouldn't know how to handle that.


	4. Chapter 3

Cutting Ties Book One

The Persistence of Memory

Chapter Three

With A Lost Plot

The day was Himawari's funeral. It wasn't bleak, nor sunny, it just was. I am unsure if I just didn't pay attention to the weather, or if I receded so far into my mind that everything went gray.

Once again, I lost a parent. Once again, I lost someone that would love me unconditionally. Once again, I lost my mother.

My hair covered my blinded eye, I cried silently. Hinata was sobbing. Hiashi was holding baby Hanabi, face made of stone. Neji looked away from my eyes when they wandered to him. He looked guilty. But at the time, he didn't matter. Hinata's sobs didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Just the sky full of nothing. And just the pale, cold body of Himawari.

With the kind wife to the head gone, tension within the clan got tighter. Harder to breathe. You wouldn't be able to cut the tension, not even with a steak knife in your hand.

I couldn't accompany Hinata or Neji to training, they had the Byakugan and I didn't. So I did my own.

I would scamper out of my room with my five-year-old body, and casually walk out of the house. Out of the compound. Then out of the district. Of course, I seemed to forget that I was five, and therefore couldn't go to the training grounds without an adult. I also didn't consider that I didn't exactly know my way around Konoha.

"Where is it again?" I asked myself, "The crap did it go?"

Most pedestrians looked at me weirdly, but continued walking. My bright green eye kept darting through the crowd, the streets, the buildings, they settled on the mountain. Which was no help, you could see that stupid thing from anywhere, everywhere!

I groaned in frustration, stifling a cry. Children were so stinking emotional!

I felt a tap on my shoulder. In a split second, I considered the wrathful tactic. But quickly decided against it. I went for the scared/sad child. It lasted maybe two seconds.

"Hey kiddo, are you lost?"

And I couldn't believe who I saw.

And I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out already.

Crouching down to get with my height was none other than the Fourth Hokage himself. In the flesh. And not dead.

I legit could not believe it.

Here I am. A little over five years after the Kyuubi attack/Naruto's birthday/the day he died. And, somehow, he's not dead.

Did me just being born cause this much difference? I haven't done anything to the plot yet. Surely, just me being in Konoha couldn't cause this much.

But plot...

"Uh, yeah, mugi," I stammered. Of course, I had just developed a verbal tick. I blushed, this was not the first impression I wanted.

The Yellow Flash just chuckled, amused. I was not mentally prepared for the Fourth Hokage to walk me home.

...

Nor Obito Uchiha.

'Plooooottt!' My mind screamed to me, trying to pull the cushion back.

"Heyo, Sensei! Whatcha doin'?" The supposed to be considered dead teenager asked.

I was ready to faint.

"Hey Obito! I am just about to escort this little girl home; would you like to walk with us?" Minato greeted.

"Sure thing, Sensei! Now where do you live, little girl?"

"First off, my name is Erin! And-" I started.

"Erin-chan? That's a cute name!" The Uchiha all but yelled, interrupting me.

"And I live in the Hyuuga compound." I continued as if he didn't even talk.

"Hyuuga?" Supposed-to-be Tobi drawled.

"You don't look like a Hyuuga..." The Namikaze all but asked.

"That's cuz I'm not, mugi. I was adopted." I spilled.

"Adopted...?" He still questioned me. Obviously it was unlike any Hyuuga to adopted non-clan children.

"Yeah, mugi. My real name is Erin Wantanabe."

"Wantanabe... Where have I heard that name before?" The yellow head mused, he started walking in the direction of what I assumed to be the Hyuuga compound. Finally.

"My birth father, maybe." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, where's he from?"

"The Bloody Mist, he and my mom died trying to get me out, mugi." I couldn't help but tell him things I'm not supposed to know. Really, he just emits this trustworthy air around him. It was impossible to not trust him.

It made me wonder how he wasn't put into T&I.

Obito followed us, and the rest of the trip was full of casual conversation.

We got to the gates.

"You can drop me off now, mugi." I told them.

"No, we insist." Minato said.

"Fine, mugi."

Hiashi would not be happy to hear about this.

Walking in, I was glared at. Minato got many bows, as expected. After all he was the Hokage. The difference was almost startling. Until you consider that he was the Hokage, and I was some orphan girl adopted into the clan. And nobody liked outsiders.

"What's with the tense air?" Obito said, a little too loudly. Hyuuga didn't care for Uchiha's.

"The wife of the head just died." Minato explained, though it didn't do much, so I finished for him.

"The Branch Family hates the Main Family, because of the seals, mostly. You've heard of them, mugi?" I received a nod, "Lady Himawari was one of the kindest, and from the Branch Family, mugi. She smoothed down the tensions. Just a month ago, she died in childbirth. Making the clan go crazy, mugi."

"Right," Minato said. We continued walking until the biggest house in the compound was reached.

"Um, Erin-chan? Are you sure this is your house?" Obito asked.

"Yes, my adoptive parents died, giving me to Hizashi, the late twin brother of the head. Lady Himawari insisted I stay after he died."

"What are you gonna do now that she's dead?" he asked, tactless.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there, mugi."

He had asked a good question. Would I stay, under the wishes of a dead women? Would I leave, under the wishes of the majority of the clan? I was unsure. On one hand, they may want to respect Himawari's wishes. On the other, everyone that has taken care of me has died. I know "I'm an outsider" doesn't cover all the glares.

Of course, Minato and Obito didn't know all that. They only know what it looks like from a distance. Not the up close and personal glares I'm getting.

"Well, We'll leave you here. By the way, you should visit sometime, I have a son about your age." The Yellow Flash and his student walked away.

'Naruto! And here we have the living reminders, _literally_ , that the plot has gone to _ashes_!' My mind though, I quickly pushed it away.

I still haven't trained anything!


	5. Chapter 4

Cutting Ties Book One

The Persistence of Memory

Chapter Four

A Lost Soul

After the little incident of getting the Hokage to walk me home, Hiashi gave me a stern speaking to. I ignored him through most of it, I didn't really care what he had to say. Until he finished that rant, only to begin a discussion on a completely different topic.

"I'm sure you're wondering what will happen to your living conditions." He started. I perked up. He took that as a yes.

"There has been much debate about whether or not you are going to stay inside the clan or not. After this incident, I'm almost inclined to make you leave. It was just about fifty-fifty at the meeting. But, my source tells me that Hokage-sama offered to you a play-date with his son, correct?"

"Yes sir, mugi." I answered dully.

"He continued to ramble on about me, my conditions, and that if I -

"Step one foot out of the lines I have created, you will be expelled from the compound. That being said,"

'This is the longest we've heard him talk' my brain started talking, 'No, no, no. I need to hear what he's saying...'

Unfortunately, I still didn't hear all of what he had to say to me. Except the end.

"You will go on this "play-date" thing with the Hokage's son. Do you accept?"

I snapped to attention, "Sure thing, mugi," I said lazily. His eye brow twitched.

That would be about when what he said had finally sunk in.

'Wait,' my mind started, 'He actually wants us to go on a play date with Naruto?'

But NaruHina, I complained, not out loud.

"Wait, can Hinata come with, mugi?" I asked, not bothering with formalities.

"Why would she need to?" He asked, scoffed more like. I hadn't thought that far.

'Because my ship, I will go down with this ship, mugi!' My brain tried to get me to say.

"It would be a good way to help her get over her shyness, mugi. And also help her people skills, mugi?" I provided, on the spot. Thankfully not including what my brain wanted me to say.

He gave a nod, a satisfactory answer at least.

"Fine, I will arrange with Minato-sama that you and Hinata will see his son on Tuesdays. On Thursdays, it will just be you." He concluded.

That wasn't too bad.

I was honestly surprised at how quickly I had gotten over Minato not being dead. I expected to still be shocked when excepting missions from him... Who am I kidding, I am in shock.

I was dismissed and made my way to my room. I had things to do. The door with a slight 'snap!'.

"Yeah, Dattebayo!"

'Nuff said...'

After about a year of hiding in my room and training my chakra, I turned six. And Neji started going to the academy. Bleh, but who wants to talk about him? Okay, so, maybe I did have a fictional crush on him in my previous life. I repeat, previous life. But he was a jerk to me now and it's not like he talked to me, so there's nothing to say.

And also, I had a lot of fictional crushes back then, they mean nothing now. For the most part. That just wasn't my focus currently.

Multi-dimensional travel was- or rather—rebirth in a different world.

I needed something to occupy my time during sleepless nights, and fictional crushes was now too weird when they were in the same town as me. Afterall, the fun of fictional crushes was that they were fictional. Now they have flaws like everyone else.

So, the multi-dimension theory it was.

More than most theories about reincarnation is that you're reborn in the same world. Probably a little after you just left off. A step up, or down, the karmic ladder. Simple, easy even, right? Not for me

That being said, I shouldn't have been born in this world. Unless…

Point is, just me being born would never have that much of an effect on the plot - on this world. Maybe I wasn't supposed to die where I died, or something to that affect. Maybe the beings in charge of this thing needed to find a place for a lost soul, quickly. Thing is, theory is just that—theory. It relies on maybes and every single part and counterpart of the situation. Maybe said beings didn't do a background check—didn't know I knew this future. .Maybe they know that I know a future. Maybe they don't care. Maybe they forgot to erase my memories of my past life.

Unless they meant for this to happen and I was born here for a reason.

Or I was just in a alternate universe of the Naruto-verse.

And the biggest maybe of all? Maybe I didn't die and I'm just having a really long, really vivid dream. Like the Harry Potter Dream AU. Or the multiple Percy Jackson coma stories. Heck, even the Ash Ketchum coma theory.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained I say.

Of course, nothing trumped the fact that I was basically living in a fanfiction—coma or not.


End file.
